Right In Front of Them
by RionaleprechaunwingsGallagher
Summary: Secret Santa fic for Dorothy Oz. Wendell and an old friend get reacquainted for the holidays. :-)


Okay, I had Dorothy Oz for my Secret Santa recipient. She gave me a few great prompts, but I had to go with this one, because, well, Wendell. :-)

So, this is the prompt:

Characters I wish for: Wendell. I'd like a story centered in how Wendell spends his Christmas vacations (it could be with the squints and/or squinterns, and other characters of the show).

Please include: A girlfriend for Wendell (the poor guy… we haven't seen him with a girlfriend since he dated Angela… he deserves someone). Could be OFC or not (you can use any female character from Bones or any other show.  
Any character from Bones (dead or alive) that you want except Daisy and Wells.  
Extra points for adding one (or more) of my favorites: Hodgins, Cam/Arastoo, Finn, Caroline and Andrew Jursic (the documentary guy).

Please exclude: Daisy Wick and Oliver Wells (unless is to make fun of him or ridicule him in some way); Christine/Michael Vincent and Caroline/Max pairings; and most important: Pelant.

Maximum rating: At your discretion, however, I prefer higher ratings to lower ones.

Dorothy, I hope that this fulfills your wishes well enough. :-)

Big thank you to **oddestcastle**, who beta'd this last minute while she was in San Francisco with family. :-)

* * *

"Hey, Riona!" Dr. Jack Hodgins stopped the newest Squintern.

"Yes, Dr. Hodgins? Did I miss something?" Riona asked nervously.

"No! I was wondering if you wanted to go to a hockey game tonight. Booth plays, and so does another one of the interns."

"Oh, sure. I didn't have any plans. I mainly go home and write."

Hodgins smiled. "Great. Are you going to need a ride?"

"Sure, that'd be nice."

"Cool. Just, there's not a lot of room in my car."

Riona smiled. "That's okay. I'm small enough," she replied, gesturing at her 5'1" frame.

"Are we going to get going?" Caroline Julian asked. "I don't see why I'm going."

"Because, it's a big rivalry, and Booth looks good in his hockey gear," Angela answered. "Of course, I have something much better to go home to," she continued, eyeing Hodgins.

Riona rolled her eyes. Working at the Jeffersonian was definitely something she had to get used to. She walked out to Hodgins' Mini Cooper with him and Angela. The three of them slipped into car.

"So, this isn't going to hurt anyone, right? I don't like watching people get hurt. I can deal with the bones, listing the injuries and everything. It's just actually watching them get injured."

"Not since that game a few years ago where Booth punched a guy until his hand broke, because the guy gave Wendell a concussion," Angela replied.

"And Booth sawed off his cast to play in a game a month later, and he got a concussion," Hodgins continued.

"Men are crazy," Riona said.

"Yes, they are," Angela agreed.

"Excuse me!"

"You blow up the lab for fun," Riona told him.

"Your idea of presents are usually some sort of thing you've grown."

"Angela told me about how you birthed a fly from your neck."

"Okay, I got it!" Hodgins told them.

Riona and Angela shared a look. They pulled into the parking lot, and the three of them went into the rink. They sat down, and they were joined by Caroline, Cam, Arastoo, Sweets, and Brennan.

"Did you guys get a babysitter?" Riona asked.

"Yes," Brennan answered. "I don't want Christine to be watching hockey just yet."

"Max offered to watch her and Michael Vincent, so we took him up on the offer," Angela explained.

"Yes, because Max Keenan is a good babysitter."

"He really is," Brennan said, oblivious to Caroline's sarcasm. "It did surprise me, but he is good with Christine."

Riona chuckled. Then, the players came out. Riona sat up straighter when she saw one.

No, that's not him. She thought.

The game began, and Riona watched as Booth slapped the puck towards number eight. He skated up the ice, and he slapped it to another teammate. They wove in and out of defenders, and they scored. The Jeffersonian group cheered.

"Booth, look out!" Number 8 yelled, and Booth swerved from a defender trying to smash him.

"Thanks, Wendell!" Booth shouted back. "Get the puck!"

"Did he just say Wendell?" Riona asked.

"Yes. Wendell Bray. He's one of the other interns. He's one of the most intelligent young men, I've ever come across."

"Do you know him?" Hodgins inquired.

"Yes, actually. Had the biggest crush on him in high school," Riona admitted.

"And you still do," Angela said with a knowing smile.

"Wendell deserves to have a good woman by his side," Hodgins said. "You'd definitely fit the bill."

Riona blushed.

"Oh, they would be so cute together!" Angela squealed.

"Should I get some mistletoe? Maybe it'll actually do you some good, Cherie."

"Are you suggesting that the mistletoe didn't do anything for Booth and I?"

"It did take you and Booth, what, another four years to get together?" Arastoo commented.

"Booth and I weren't ready for anything!"

Angela rolled her eyes. "The only thing you two weren't doing for years was having sex. You two were a couple, Bren. Neither of you would just admit anything."

"Can't we all be quiet and watch the game? Is that too much to ask, Cherie?" Caroline snapped.

Riona smiled as everyone went quiet. Caroline seemed like a very powerful woman who you did not want to cross. Riona turned to the game and watched Wendell and Booth were doing very well, and they kept encouraging one another. The two watched each other's backs and also watched their teammates.

"They are good," Riona said out loud.

"They show remarkable skill. Their coordination is superb." Brennan agreed.

Everyone watched as the Fed Cases were able to beat the Fire Dawgs. It was largely due to Booth's strong leadership, and Wendell's ability to silently understand Booth's movements.

"You played very well tonight, Booth," Brennan told her husband when he and Wendell came out of the locker room.

"Thanks, Bones." Booth answered with a soft kiss.

Everyone was silently "awwing" at the couple. They were too adorable sometimes. Riona looked nervously at Wendell.

"Riona? Is that you?" he asked.

"Yeah. Hi, Wendell," Riona answered shyly.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm the Squintern of the week. Dr. Hodgins invited me to the game."

"How have you been? I haven't seen you since graduation!" Wendell exclaimed.

"I know. I've been decent. And, working at the Jeffersonian is great."

"It definitely is. They're great people," he answered with a grin.

"They seem to be. They also seem crazy."

Wendell laughed. "They are."

As they conversed, Angela silently shooed everyone away. Riona and Wendell didn't notice until they turned to say goodbye to people.

"So, do you need a ride home?" Wendell asked.

"That would be great," Riona replied gratefully.

Wendell smiled and opened the passenger door for her. Riona slid into his car, and Wendell hopped into the driver's seat.

"So, are you staying with your parents? Just a couple blocks over from where I grew up?"

"Yeah, I am, actually. Just during holiday season. I normally live with my cousins in their weekend house."

"Weekend house?"

"They're lawyers." Riona said.

"Oh. So, you're not doing as bad as we were when we were growing up?"

"Oh, I'm still poor as hell." Riona replied.

"Oh. I'm sorry." Wendell told her.

Riona waved her hand. "Well, I am hoping that this internship will get me a real position at the FBI."

"Wow. That sounds great."

"It is pretty great. What have you been doing?"

"Well, I've worked a ton of odd jobs. I can't survive on the internship alone, so I've done work at a pizza parlor, mechanic, bartender."

Riona smiled. "I need some things fixed around the apartment that I'm looking at. The landlord won't do anything to fix things."

"I'd love to help out. What are you doing for Christmas?"

"Oh, you know, just hanging out at home."

"How about you bring your family over to Mom's place? It'll just be us two."

"Really? You don't mind?"

He looked at her like she was crazy. "What? Mom loves you, Riona. We'd be glad to have you over."

"Okay. We'll be there."

"Great," Wendell said, grinning over at Riona.

She smiled back.

On Christmas, the Gallagher family went over to the Bray household. Wendell grinned when he answered the door.

"Come on in!" he told them.

They stepped inside, and Wendell took their coats. Riona and Wendell sat down on the couch together.

"So, Wendell, Riona says you're also working at the Jeffersonian? How do you like it?" Riona's mother, Marie, asked the young man.

"Oh, I love it. The people are great. They're like a second family. And, it's great to help solve murders like this."

"Riona has been interested in forensics for a while. How did you get into it?"

"Picked up a book at the library."

"Same here," Riona said.

Wendell's ears went slightly red. "I know," he mumbled. "Remember how I started talking to you about it?"

Riona nodded. "That's when we started talking!" she said.

"I picked it up, because I saw you reading it."

Riona blushed. "What? You what? Why?"

"Because, you're smart and beautiful and really kind. I wanted an excuse to start talking to you. I was nervous first, so I tried to find something you were interested in."

Riona just gaped at him before kissing him. He pulled her closer, kissing back.

"I see they finally decided to see what was right in front of them." Mrs. Bray's voice broke them apart.

"They did," Marie Gallagher agreed.

"We'll be in the kitchen," Liam Gallagher told the pair.

Riona and Wendell just looked at each other, blushing. Their parents walked into the kitchen, and Riona and Wendell just smiled sheepishly.

"So, you've liked me since high school?" Riona asked.

Wendell nodded. "You?"

"Yeah. Angela got it out of me tonight."

"Angela can get anything out of anyone."

Riona laughed. "So, next time one of us goes in, she's gonna know we're together, huh?"

"I guarantee you she'll know before then. She's probably the reason we were alone."

"I'm glad, though."

"Me, too."

"Merry Christmas, Wendell," Riona told him.

"Merry Christmas, Riona." He kissed her again.

* * *

I hope that this was satisfactory. :-)


End file.
